How serious is Manny Pacquiao in his training?
Well, for those entertaining some doubts, he’s dead serious.
Over the last three weeks, the 28-year-old boxer has been hitting the road, pounding the mitts and sweating it out in an oven-hot gym in Gen. Santos City.
Pacquiao has logged a dozen rounds of sparring, which he does three times a week. But his daily regimen consists of a 30-minute run in the morning and a two-hour gym work in the afternoon.
He does a thousand crunches and sit-ups per day.
Pacquiao has even worked out one Sunday, which is normally his rest day. He has decided to train in his hometown, instead of Manila where there are just too many distractions.
“Ang init sa gym (It’s too hot in the gym),” said Pacquiao over the phone Tuesday evening, at around 8 o’clock, as he prepared to call it a day in his multi-million-peso mansion.
“Pero kailangan mag-focus (But you need to focus),” added Pacquiao, scheduled to face undefeated Mexican Jorge Solis at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on April 14.
Over the last week, Pacquiao skipped flying to Manila for a string of events he would have normally gone to – an election-related gathering, a big-time derby and the birthday party of a dear friend.
By this time, as in his previous fights, Pacquiao should be in Los Angeles, training at the well-equipped Wild Card Gym owned by his long-time trainer Freddie Roach.
But since Roach is out in Puerto Rico training Oscar dela Hoya for his May 5 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao has chosen to stay home and train under Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri, his life-long buddies.
Pacquiao plans to leave for Los Angeles on March 14 or exactly one month before the fight, his first since he demolished Erik Morales at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas last Nov. 18.
The other day, Pacquiao tipped the scales at 137 pounds, just seven pounds heavier than the limit of 130 for his coming fight, scheduled for 12 rounds.
There seems to be no problem with his weight. And as long as he keeps his focus in training, there shouldn’t be any problem either come fight time.
